Apps For Business

The best apps you might never have heard of...

2011-05-31T03:33:00.000-07:00

There are now hundreds of thousands of apps on the market, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. Most of us know the best apps to download – firm favourites are usually newspapers for current affairs, social media to connect with our mates and games to keep us entertained on the train. But it can be hard to find more unusual apps that really have the potential to enhance our lives.

Luckily for us then that the Telegraph has launched its 250 best apps feature, where their top techie bods have listed some great apps in health, food and drink, social media, motoring and fashion, with more to come in future editions.

Here are our favourites from the list so far – and best of all, they’re all free!

Health – Matt Roberts’ Two Week Blitz

An extensive guide to all the exercises you will need to complete a two-week body blitz. The tips come from personal trainer Matt’s book ‘I Will Make You Fit Fast’. His clients include Naomi Campbell and Amanda Holden – so you’ll be in good company if you follow his advice.

Food and drink – Berry’s Wine List

Everyone knows that red wine goes with red meat and white wine’s best with chicken, right? True that may be, but there is so much more to it than that, as this interesting app will tell you. It’s from Berry Bros and Rudd, Britain’s oldest wine and spirit merchant, and will guide you through more than 2,000 types of wine.

Social Media – GetGlue

This cool app helps you connect with fellow fans of the entertainment you enjoy. It lets you rate TV shows, films, music and sports to get further recommendations, while you can see what your friends are watching, reading or listening to. You can even earn rewards from over 40 major media companies.

Motoring – Viper SmartStart

It all feels a bit ‘Back to the Future’ with this amazing app which allows you to lock, start and even find your car just by using your smartphone. You can also set safety notifications in case you happen to speed, plus get a reminder if you need to put more money in the parking meter!

Fashion – 2 Minute Up-Dos

Forgive us a girly one here! This app offers a series of short videos to help the longer-haired lady create a beautiful ‘up do’, as demonstrated by award-winning hairdresser Andrew Collinge. It also includes a gallery of hairstyles throughout Andrew’s illustrious 30-year career.

iPhone Apps for Property Search - haart

2010-11-30T15:05:00.000-08:00

In just 25 years, the mobile phone has transformed the way in which we communicate. From the day the first mobile phone was launched in 1985, to the touch screen smart phones of 2010, mobile phones have proliferated to the point where there is now on average more than one per person in the UK.

It's estimated there are around 4.5 billion devices worldwide - and it will grow to 50 billion by 2020, with people being able to do far more than they ever thought possible via their hand held devices.

So how are businesses adapting to this changing world? Recently, the UK's largest independent estate agency group Spicerhaart launched Apps for its brands to enable customers to search for property while on the move. It has developed the following estate agency Apps:
haart iPhone App, haart iPad App,
Fine iPhone App, Fine iPad App,
Haybrook iPhone App, Haybrook iPad App,
Darlows iPhone App, Darlows iPad App,
Felicity J Lord iPhone App, Felicity J Lord iPad App

The Apps allow you to search for and view property very easily from your mobile phone, as well as look at floorplans, EPCs, property brochures, maps and directions and local information. You can also save your searches and contact a branch directly.

As well as locating properties for sale or rent, it has the ability to give you valuable information on properties recently sold in your area, including the selling price and date of sale.

With industry analysts projecting that mobile phones will overtake personal computers by 2013 as the way most people access information, it is innovative companies like Spicerhaart that are leading the charge towards a new way of communicating.

Blackberry Application to Record Calls

2010-11-29T23:52:00.000-08:00

The country’s sole provider of software-only mobile call recording solutions for BlackBerry® smartphones says new Financial Services Authority (FSA) regulations will help improve the image of the sector in the long term.

From next November, all FSA regulated investment firms in the UK – from banks to high street stockbrokers – will have to record traders’ mobile phone conversations and store them for six months. This has caused an outpouring of discord in the industry with companies concerned that it could prove costly to implement.

Voxsmart’s Chief Executive Sally-Ann Angel (pictured) has worked closely with the FSA during the development of the new rules. She said businesses should focus on the benefits of the new regulations rather than rally against them.

She explained: “The FSA’s recording requirements have been drawn up to crack down on insider trading and provide the FSA with evidence to convict rogue traders. Recording calls on traders’ desk phones has been a requirement for some time and by closing the loophole to include recording mobiles as well, the FSA is sending out a clear message that they are serious about preventing and detecting market abuse.”

Sally-Ann stressed that the City’s concerns about the high costs to implement new mobile recording systems are unfounded. “This is not the case,” she said. “Voxsmart offers a software-based solution which means companies can easily and securely record their BlackBerry smartphones on their current landline recording equipment without the need to purchase any new hardware. And because all calls are kept on the mobile network there are no costly call re-routing charges to pay, either. We are the only company to supply this solution, which costs a fraction of the frightening amounts being quoted in the industry.”

Sally-Ann explained that like all BlackBerry applications, Voxsmart’s VoxRecord is very simple to set up using the BlackBerry Enterprise Server. Calls are made in the same way as normal, with the resulting MP3 or WAV file securely created and stored on the company’s existing voice recording systems and all data kept securely within the company’s own firewalls.

“Alternatively, companies without an in-house voice recorder, can take advantage of the cloud based service offered by Voxsmart,” added Sally-Ann.

She added: “VoxRecord is accredited and distributed by leading call recording systems suppliers and resellers. It is a proven solution that is already being used in financial centres in London and around the world and is the published BlackBerry case study for mobile voice recording.”

The published cased study about VoxRecord on BlackBerry smartphones is available at: http://uk.blackberry.com/newsroom/success/thesis.jsp

For more information, visit www.voxsmart.com or call 01206 854403.